Mr. Humility: It says a lot about how Chad Ochocinco felt about Chris Henry that in his brightest moment yesterday at Qualcomm Stadium, in the spotlight he so craves, the flamboyant Bengals receiver was overtaken by humility. When Ochocinco hauled in a 49-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to give Cincinnati a 10-7 lead, he did nothing that would draw another fine from the NFL. He simply knelt, looked up to the heavens, put his fist to his chest, and quietly repeated one phrase. “I said, ‘Eighty-five plus 15 will always be 100 ways to be great,’ “ Ochocinco said. “It’s a little thing we used to say to each other all of the time. I said it over and over and over and over.” Ochocinco wears No. 85 and Henry wore 15. The 26-year-old Henry died on Thursday, a day after he fell out of the back of a truck during a domestic dispute with his fiancee.

Taking it hard: Ochocinco seemed to take Henry’s death particularly hard because he mentored the young receiver, who had gone through numerous off-the-field problems before apparently turning his life around. “The outside doesn’t understand. It was bigger than football with me and him,” Ochocinco said at his crowded locker, his voice cracking at times and his eyes hidden by dark sunglasses. “I can’t even explain it. You have somebody like that (whom) you take under your wing for five years, and you see them hit that turn, and turn the right way. I mean … y’all know the story. It’s hard. He was like a brother.”

No jersey tribute: Ochocinco initially planned to don a No. 15 jersey for the game to honor the man he called “Slim,” but the NFL said it would fine him for doing so. He said he decided not to do it because it would be a distraction to his team. The Bengals wore stickers with “15” on their helmets. “You have certain media types who had the nerve to say I was making the situation about me,” Ochocinco said. “When I hear something like that, hear the NFL will still fine me … are you serious? … Everybody grieves and mourns in a different way. My way would have been out there wearing that jersey, ‘cause I knew if I was gone, Slim would have had on 85 today, trust me. But when it turned into a negative, that’s when I had to backtrack and think, ‘You know, Slim wouldn’t want that.’ Today I went out and played with an extra set of hands, extra set of legs and extra heart.”

Running away: Ochocinco caught three passes for 79 yards and had a 26-yard run in the fourth quarter that set up the Cincinnati TD that closed the gap to 24-21 Chargers. Talking about the running play, Ochocinco laughed when he recalled why he changed direction and sprinted across the field toward the left sideline. “Freakin’ Shawne Merriman was following me,” he said. “ … Shawne’s presence made me reverse the entire field.” Perhaps that was Ochocinco’s makeup kiss for having said on Wednesday, before Henry’s accident, that he wanted to “beat Shawne’s head in.”

Emotional week: Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer said it had been an “interesting four days” while preparing for the Chargers, and added that the team wouldn’t fully grasp Henry’s death until it attends his funeral service tomorrow in New Orleans. “It’s almost like I don’t believe it. It’s surreal,” Palmer said. “I don’t believe it until I see him on Tuesday. It will hit home for myself and a number of other guys.”

The 12th man: It was loud at Qualcomm Stadium. Playoff Loud. L-O-U-D Loud. In fact, we can recount few times when the crowd pumped up the volume like it did during the Bengals’ possession late in the third quarter. And as the Bengals continued to bungle plays because of the distraction, it only encouraged Chargers fans. On three consecutive plays Cincinnati incurred penalties — false start, illegal substitution and delay of game — that pushed it back to its own 7-yard line. The Bengals looked completely discombobulated. They eventually had to punt from their own 22, leading to a San Diego field goal that made it 24-13.

Players noticed: “There’s about two or three games since I’ve been here in San Diego over the last five years that you could really point to where the fans took it to the next level,” said Chargers defensive end Luis Castillo. “ … When you look at what they were able to do late in this game, the enthusiasm, the noise, it really does so much and it means so much for us to be able to play at home. That’s the goal, to continue to work to bring some games to San Diego.”

Not so sweet: Just don’t get the playing of “Sweet Caroline” as the fourth-quarter, get-fired-up song. Sure people sing along, but it’s such a blatant ripoff of the Boston Red Sox, and Neil Diamond and his sequined shirt don’t exactly say smashmouth. “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” was perfect during the second home game. Getting away from that is like benching Antonio Gates.

Utes gotta love the view: The Utah football team was in attendance at Qualcomm, and safe to say it will have a better view for the Poinsettia Bowl on Wednesday night. The Utes, who play Cal, were given seats in the first few rows of the field level on both sides of the stadium. That meant they were looking at the players’ behinds, or standing up for most of the game. Utah’s bright red shirts clashed gaudily with the orange and black of the other people with bad seats: Bengals fans.